Paraplegic in Pink
by MaeMacIntosh
Summary: A surprise goes terribly wrong and now one ranger has to learn to look at the world from a whole new perspective...
1. A Cooking Accident

**A/N: Hello, and welcome to my Fic! I am so happy to have you here, and now that the cheesy introduction is over, I'll skip right ahead to the disclaimer and begin!**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: All I want for Christmas is Power Rangers! Too early? Yeah, I know. Not even Thanksgiving yet. Sorry. I don't own them, but I really wish I did!<strong>

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><p>"I didn't even realize what had happened until the nighlock had stormed away. One moment I was fighting Regnessap, a monster with the ridiculous looks to match the name, the next moment I was airborne. Let's go back a few minutes. Ok, so I was in the kitchen about to start making this great new recipe I came up with for a cake. Antonio's birthday is next week and I want this cake to be perfected and ready so that I don't have the same issues as I did with Em's birthday. I really think that this one will be good, but I'll have to tell you about it later. Maybe you could try it for yourself! Ok, so back to the story, so I was working on the cake when the gap sensor went off. Why this happens whenever I'm cooking I don't know, but I've had a bunch of spoiled meals due to these attacks."<p>

"Yeah, that's why their spoiled, Mia. It's not that your an awful cook?"

"Shut up, Terry! You're just a picky eater," Mia glares at her younger brother across the room. She is laying on a hospital bed in the ER with burns, back pains, and an IV stuck up her arm after Mentor insisted that she get her injuries checked out that were inflicted due to a battle gone wrong. Of course her younger brother, who interns at the hospital, found out that she was there, and rushed down to find out what really happened. He knew better than to believe the that Mia blew up the stove, though it wouldn't be _that_ far fetched. She may or may not have already done that once or twice before.

Terry rolls his eyes, "Ok, sis. Whatever. Just get on with the story before the doctor gets back."

"Fine." Mia continues, "Ok, so we all run into the living room where Ji pulls up the map on the table, and see where the attack is..."

"Ooh!" Terry squeals like a child on Christmas morning, "Are you talking about the table that you tap and then the top turns into water, and the reflection shows the city?"

"Yes, now..."

"That thing is so cool! When Ji wasn't looking I messed with it. You can't zoom in or anything, but you can make it so that little dots appear where each of you are. It's totally color coded!"

"Wait, really? I didn't know it could do that!" Now Mia is intrigued.

"Yeah, if you tap it on the bottom after the map pops up, you can make the little dots appear! It was awesome! Wait, let's go back to the story."

"Ok, but later you'll be telling me more about what you found out!" Terry smiles and nods his head, so Mia continues, "So, once we find that the monster is in the park, we all run out there to battle. When we got there the monster, Regnessap, greets us with a bunch of blasts our way..."

_"Ah, rangers! Have you come to have some fun? 'Cause I'm having a blast!" Regnessap yelled as he shot three more blasts their way from his cannon. All of the rangers easily dodged his attack and prepared to counter._

"He had a blue body the shape of a yam with a green tuff of what appeared to be army green, braided hair that stood straight up on top. In the midst of the green mess, two black wholes with red dots in the center appeared to be his eyes, and a mouth was no where to be found. One of his arms is shaped like am cannon and the other shaped like a sword..."

_"You'll never get away with...uh...whatever you are doing here nighlock!" Kevin screamed._

_ "You should have more faith in me, blue! Moogers attack!"_

"Once he called the moogers, the battle began. Jayden and I took Regnessap, and everyone else took on the moogers. We weren't having much trouble..."

_ Regnessap uses his sword arm to fight off both of the rangers. They parry his attacks with ease._

"But then he reminded us that one of his arms was a blaster..."

_ Their swords clash one more time, but Regnessap sneaks his blaster under their swords a shoots Mia in the chest, propelling her across the park, slamming her back into a tree._

So, now I'm here." she gestures painfully to her burnt chest.

"Nice job, sis!" Terry sarcastically laughs and gives her a thumbs up. The nurse walks into the room just as he does this. She has chocolate skin and dark hair pulled back into a bun. She is one of the nurses that Terry works frequently with.

"Give your sister a break," she scolds, "Accidents like these happen all the time."

"Uh..." Terry and Mia share a look of shock. He continues, "They do?"

"You would be surprised how many cooking accident victims we see here daily." The siblings let out a sigh of relief. "However, you are the first person I've had blow themselves up in quite some time."

"It's her specialty!" Terry pipes in.

"Now Terry..." the nurse begins, but Mia cuts her off.

"It's fine. He gets smart when I'm sick or injured, but whenever I recover I swiftly remind him which one of us has the black belt and which one had their underwear over their head from kindergarten to senior year of high school."

"MIA!" Terry screams.

"You waked right into that one!" the nurse says. Mia gives her a weak high five and she gets down to business, "Are the pain meds working?"

"Yeah," she yawns, "I'm kinda tired, though. Is that supposed to happen?" Terry snickers and the nurse shoots him a dirty look.

"Yes, drowsiness is a side effect of the pain meds. You should close your eyes for a minute and rest. I'm going to do my thing and then after I leave, the doctor will come in and talk to you about your condition. Okay?" Mia nods her head and does as she is told. She dozes off into a deep sleep. When the doctor walks in with a file in hand, Mia has to be shaken awake. As she groggily rubs her eyes with her non-IV hand as the doctor begins his typical doctor speech.

"Well, Miss Watanabe, I've got some good news and some bad. Which would you like first?"

"The good," she replies.

He takes a breath and begins, "Well, the good news is that you only have first degree burns, so you will have little to no scarring. The bad news is it looks like you will not be able to do your martial arts for about a month. You have a spinal fracture in your lower back. It will not require surgery, but you will need to wear a brace."

Terry lets out a laugh, "Mia in a brace? This will be interesting."

"Great," Mia sarcastically replies, ignoring Terry, "Just great. So, what will this thing look like?"


	2. False Blame

**Disclaimer: We know I don't own Power Rangers and THANK GOODNESS I do not own "Turn Down For What?"! My friends think that song is the best, I think it is an overplayed headache!**

**On a happier note, new chapter! Thanks to everyone who read the last one! Enjoy!**

"I can't believe I'm stuck in this thing for a MONTH!" Mia whines. Due to the combination of her injuries, she has to wear a brace. In the front, it covered her stomach and came just under her breasts. Then there is a bar that goes from the middle of brace and connects to a triangularly shaped pad, which lays just below her collar bone. Two straps which cross in the back are attached to the pad and the back of the brace, which spans almost her entire back.

"Stop complaining or I'll make you walk!" Terry snaps. He knew from the moment he saw her x-rays she was not going to like what was to come, yet he underestimated his sister after her seemingly mild reaction in the hospital. She barely even flinched when she saw it, but once she got into the passenger's seat of his car the complaints came flying out faster than a cheetah on steroids. "You seriously haven't shut up since the moment you sat down in this car!"

Mia purses her lips and says, "Well, Mike's going to have a field day with this, and I'm not looking forward to that!"

"Fine, but first," he turns on the radio which is playing "Turn Down For What?" and turns the volume up to full blast. Over the music he screams, "OKAY! GO AHEAD AND VENT!"

"WHAT?"

"EXACTLY!"

"I CAN'T HEAR..." she stops mid sentence realizing her brother's intent. She spins the dial down all the way, turning off the radio. "Not funny."

Terry rolls his eyes, "Well, if you didn't whine so much maybe I wouldn't have to do that."

"It hurts, I'm tired, and I know I'm about to enter a month of boredom and you are the only one who will listen to me. I can't contact Mom or Dad, Ji won't put up with it, and the others are going to have their hands full." she pouts.

"Hate to break it to you, Sis, but I've seen way worse. Guess who the unlucky victim of the injuries were? Hmm...her name is on the top of my tongue. Oh, wait a minute! The victim was you!" he stops at the light, turns and faces her, "What's really bugging you?"

"I slipped up, and now the team is going to pay the price. I'm stuck on the sidelines while the nighlock are getting stronger and more clever. They should be focused on ending this war, not making up for my mistakes!" Mia yells out of frustration. Tears start to roll down her cheek as she silently cries, avoiding her brother's eyes by glancing out the passenger's side window.

Terry, used to his sister's habit of blaming everything on herself, sighs, "Mia, it's not your fault. What were you supposed to do?"

"Not explode," she grumbles.

Terry chuckles, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what the monster is supposed to do, but how were you planning on avoiding this one in the heat of the battle?"

"I should have paid attention. If I did, I would have been able to dodge it."

"And let Jayden blow up instead?" Terry counters. Mia is silent. He continues, "Sis, I think that if it had been Jayden instead of you, you and I would be having a very similar conversation. The world will not end because you stepped left instead of right."

"The nighlock are trying to take over the world! In my case that could possibly happen!" she snaps. Terry, seeing that he is getting no where with this takes a little detour, that goes unnoticed by his weeping sister. While he heads to his alternate destination, he tries to change the topic.

"Remember the time when we were little, and you were just learning symbol power. You were trying to figure out the symbol for wind all on your own, and were practicing it, so you could show Mom. Keep in mind that this was just after she told you to stick to her lesson for the time being and not to experiment with any other symbols, but you were board with the symbol she gave you, whatever it was. Anyone would be after performing it perfectly once!" Terry chuckles at his own joke, but it goes unnoticed by his sister. With a huff, he continues, "You got this one perfectly on the first try, but you didn't expect for there to be a recoil. The wind nocked you off the ground and blew you up onto the roof. You rolled off and fell, breaking your arm. I will have to admit, that was the funniest fail I have ever seen!" He looks back over at his sister, who is still silent. "Didn't you say Emily was kind of a klutz too? I mean, the wind thing was funny, but she could make a whole boulder that could pummel the whole town on accident! Also, what about Jayden? With the fire, I'm sure he's burnt his eyebrows off on more than one occasion!"

"Emily once almost flattened Kevin and Mike on accident. She was practicing the symbol for boulder. Plus Mike once made a bonsai attack Ji, but that was on purpose." Mia responds in a whisper barely audible. Terry perks up when he hears this.

"So, how about Kevin or Jayden? I bet Antonio has goofed a couple of times! He doesn't have the proper training!"

"No, nothing I've seen at least." Mia finally notices that they are not heading back to the Shiba house and asks, "Terry, where are we going?"

"In all of my years of training to be the successful doctor I am today…"

"Your an unpaid intern. Get to the point," Mia reminds him.

"Fine, Grumpy! You're down, and normally when a patient feels this way, Doctor Sam will go to this place and pick up a dozen of their freshly baked, homemade doughnuts! They are the best in town and always make people smile. Do you want to go in with me, or do you want to stay here, and I'll bring them out?" Terry asks.

Mia grins and replies, "I'll stay here. I'm still kinda tired, you know?" He nods and jogs inside. Mia rests her head on the window and revisits the battle in her head. Over and over again she watches, trying to figure out what she did wrong. _"__One step to the left? No, then Jayden would've gotten hit. Ducking to the right? No, then one of the others could__'__ve gotten hurt. At least that one would__'__ve taken a few mongers with it! Focus. Is there a symbol I should have used? I don__'__t know one I could__'__ve writen that fast. What did I do wrong?__"_

Terry returns with the baked goods and places the box right on Mia's lap giving her first pick. She grabs a chocolate on chocolate and begins to nibble on it. Terry grabs a regular glazed and turns on the radio, but instead of the ruckus he had playing before he switches it to another station. A slow, acoustic song plays while the two siblings sit quietly, munching on the pastries as they stare out the front window at the cars speeding away on the road across from the parking lot. They all seem to be going somewhere. No one worrying about anything but their own lives. No one concerned about the consequences that will surly follow the morning's events. No one realizing the sacrifice done in their names and no one caring one bit.

**A/N: Just so you know, I was thinking of the Donjoy Dual TLSO Back Brace when describing the one that Mia is stuck in. I know someone who had to wear that one for similar reasons (No, they were not fighting nighlocks! I meant similar as in injury wise!).**

**I hope you guys liked this chapter! I'm building up to the big chapter where everything goes down. That will either be the next chapter or the one after that. I really hope you are liking it so far! Please Review!**


	3. Something is Different

**A/N: Hey, I'm going to be alternating between posting chapters for this story, and my other story, The Untold Truth. I will try to post a chapter a week for at least one of them. I am having some family stuff going on, so that is probably not going to be the case. Please read both of my fics and please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Wicked, Son of a Witch, _or Gregory Maguire. I also do not own Power Rangers. I do own Fernando.**

Mike and dodged an attack and counters with a roundhouse that his blue opponent nearly dodges. Kevin throws a week punch, which Mike takes advantage of. He grabs hold of Kevin's arm, spins him around, and twists his arm behind his back.

"That's enough," Ji commands. Mike releases Kevin and the two face Ji. Normally Kevin is victorious in training, but Mike is by far the best when it come to hand to hand. "That was good. Kevin, if you put a little more force behind your attack and worried less about precision, that match would have ended much differently. Your accuracy is practically perfect. You need to worry less. As for you, Mike, you could work on your form. Only a little polishing here and there. You should focus more on your symbol power and your swordsmanship. Your hand to hand is defiantly your strength. I'm going to go check on Emily and Jayden on the punching bag. Continue sparring, but don't kill each other." Mike smirks and turns to face Kevin. As Mentor walks inside, he notices a potted plant floating over the door slowly making its way across the training yard. He chuckles to himself and redirects his path to the pink ranger. She sits awkwardly on a stool in front of the counter by the grill. Her samuraizer is pointed at the bonsai and slowly moves pulls it towards herself, gently guiding the plant without spilling a spec of soil. He quietly stands next to her without making a sound. She successfully pulls the plant over Mike and Kevin and makes it land on her lap. She smiles to herself, yet she has a sad look in her eyes. Ji slips on to the seat next to her. Ji picks up the plant and says, "You are attempting some very difficult symbols with ease."

"Well, that's what happens when you can't do anything else for a whole month," she mumbles, "I can't believe that it's only been two weeks! Feels like forever."

Ji rolls his eyes at her exaggeration and replies, "Well, while I have nothing against pushing your limits, could I make a request?" Mia nods. "Please refrain from pushing your limits over your team mate's heads. We both know that I don't need any more rangers in the hospital."

Mia blushes and sheepishly murmurs, "Yeah, sorry."

"It's fine, but I want my bonsai back in one piece when you are done." Hearing this she just smiles. Ji stands up and walks inside. Mia longingly looks over to Kevin and Mike sparring. She sighs and bitterly turns back to the plant. She puts the plant on the counter and pokes it with her samuraizer.

"I am so board!" she exclaims to herself. She continues to lift up the plant several more times without breaking it. She hears Mike and Kevin walking inside mentioning something about food. She looks down at her watch and sees that it is 3:00 pm. "Well, I guess I sat here all day making a plant fly. Very productive, Mia." she sarcastically says to herself rolling her eyes. After only two weeks of nothing but symbol power, she has found that she can train longer than before without burning out. She cautiously guides herself off the stool and walks inside.

On her way to the kitchen, Mia hears Jayden in a heated argument on the land line phone in the living room. She stops and stands in place in the hallway. No one is allowed to use the phone unless in an emergency. Just before she can hear anything interesting, Jayden hangs up. She tries to walk away as fast as she can, but thanks to the brace, she does not get very far.

"Mia!" Jayden says, shocked to see her there. She stops in her tracks. Knowing she has been caught, she does not even trying to pretend as if she had not heard him.

"Who were you talking to in there?" she asks.

"No one important. You don't have to worry," Jayden replies.

Mia purses her lips and retorts, "We both know that the land line means nothing good, Jayden, so don't even try to play it down. It sounded like something serious."

Jayden sighs, "Mia, it is nothing like that. I need you to not tell Ji I was using that, okay? Nothing bad. Just, since Antonio is off fishing, I was making a call regarding his birthday present. I am trying to get him this lure for his birthday. It looks like a squid and is made to look like it is made of gold. I figured it would be perfect. The issue is that apparently it is in high demand, and the store owner who is saving it for me threatened to sell it if I don't show up within the week. I try to go, but the shop is all the way across town, and every time I sneak off to go pick it up, a nighlock attacks!"

"I'll go for you. Just give me the information and call ahead so he knows that I'll be picking it up. It's not like I have anything else to do," Mia offers.

"No, it's too far. Walking all the way down there would not be good for your back," Jayden retorts.

"I'll take the bus. It'll be fine! I have nothing to do, and you and I both know that you'll never get down there on your own! Just give me the address," Mia pleads. Knowing that what she says is true, Jayden gives in.

"Fine!" he says, "I'll get you the address after lunch. Then I'll call ahead, but how are you going to get Mentor to let you go?"

"I've been meaning to go to the library to return a book I borrowed. I'm sure he'll let me out of one never ending session of writing a single word on a pice of paper for hours on end in order to preserve my library card. One more overdue book and they'll deactivate it, and now that I have nothing to do, this card essentially provides me a little bit of sanity!" she exclaims.

Jayden laughs, "Ok, that's a good plan, but I think your exaggerating a bit!"

Mia bluntly replies, "You go one whole month where the only activity you can do aside from reading is writing one word on a piece of paper over and over and over and over and over and…"

"I get it!" Jayden interrupts, "Symbol power is boring." He chuckles and gently wraps his arm around her shoulder. They both walk into the kitchen chatting about the boringness of symbol power, and how it is ironic that this bores them when essentially they are preforming magic, something everyone seems to be interested in. Like a gentleman, Jayden pulls out a stool and helps Mia up onto it. Mike snickers at them and Kevin rolls his eyes. Jayden hops into the seat next to Mia.

"So, Kev, what's on today's menu?" Mia asks.

"I was thinking a chicken salad." He replies.

Mike interjects, "I was thinking a couple slices of pizza."

"Pizza is not a part of a samurai diet." Kevin interjects. Mia and Jayden roll their eyes as Kevin and Mike go off about what a "proper samurai" should eat. Jayden sneaks behind Kevin and goes to the refrigerator. He pulls out some jelly. Then he goes to the cabinets and gets some peanut butter, bread, and two plates. He makes two sandwiches and grabs a banana for each of them, and finally he puts a stack of baby carrots on the side. He then pours two glasses of chocolate milk. He slides one plate and one glass over to Mia and keeps the other for himself. Mia thanks him. Jayden then turns to Mike and Kevin and clears his throat.

"This is what I call a balanced diet. Nothing too fattening, but there still is some treats, like chocolate milk. I left the ingredients out if you would like to duplicate it. I am also here if you need me to give you instructions, but I honestly hope you two know how to make a PB 'n' J!" Jayden says. The guys grumble and begin making their sandwiches. Emily pops in just in time.

"Hey! What's for lunch?" she asks.

"PB 'n' J, banana, carrots, and chocolate milk. The stuff is already out, so just make your own," Jayden replies. She nods and skips behind the counter to starts making her meal. Jayden picks up his napkin and pulls a pen out of his pocket. He scribbles something down on it and passes it over to Mia under the counter. She glances down at it and sees that it is the address for the shop. She gives him a wink and finishes up her meal. She puts her dishes in the dishwasher and is about to walk out. Ji, who walks in just at that moment, stops her before she can leave.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

She cooly replies, "Library. I have to turn in a book or else the librarian is going to deactivate my card. The nighlocks normally get in the way of my to do list, library included."

"How are you planning on getting there?" he counters.

"Bus," she answers.

Satisfied, he smiles and says, "Be quick and be careful."

She smiles and responds, "I will, Ji." As she walks away she catches Jayden's eye. He smiles gratefully at her. She goes to her room and picks up the copy of, _Wicked_, off her bedside table and walks outside. _"I didn't lie to him, I just didn't tell him the full story,"_ she thinks to herself as she makes her way to the bus stop.

Once the bus arrives she climbs in and hands her fare to the driver. As she makes her way to the back, she notices two people sitting next to each other in the fourth row. One was a large bald man with pale skin and a kind face, who looked to be in his thirties. The next was a scrawny teenager with long, spiked up hair. Both are dressed as if they are members of a biker gang, but there is an unseen goofiness about them that makes them look less threatening than they probably intended. Mia recognizes them from the battles. They are infamous around the rangers for being in the wrong place at the wrong time every time. Mia smiles, sits down in a seat, and stares out the window as the bus begins to move. She watches as the buildings and the people go by. Everyone seems to have a place to be.

The bus stops right outside a very large, stone building with big pillars and a huge set of stairs leading up to the elegant front doors: The Panorama Library. Mia climbs up the staircase and opens up the big, mahogany doors. As she passes the librarian, she smiles and waves.

"Hi, Miss Margaret!" Miss Margaret has paper white hair pulled into a tight bun and a long face that always reminds Mia of a crow. Her eyes are narrow and her lips are pursed into a tight scowl. She always dresses in a black dress suit and her glasses hang from a cord around her neck.

"I see you have finally turned in a book on time. What's the occasion, Ms. Watanabe?" she sneers.

Pretending not to notice the malice, Mia shrugs and says, "Well, I hurt my back, so I didn't have any of the regular chores or errands I usually have to do. Have you read this book? I think that it is really interesting. I saw the musical when it came to town…"

"I do not care for small talk, Miss Watanabe," she interrupts, "Just give me the book and be on your way." Mia reluctantly does so with a smile and walks back to the "M" section of the fiction area of the library. She gets down on her knees, as she can not bend over due to the brace, and runs her pointer finger across the spines of the books until she reaches "Gregory Maguire." She looks at the spines of the books with his name on it until she finds the sequel to _Wicked, Son of a Witch_. _"Very punny,"_ she thinks. Mia grabs the book off the shelf and with one hand on the shelf, she eases her self up. She turns and walks back to Miss Margaret. She holds the book out and the librarian begrudgingly stamps it.

"Have a nice day, Miss Margaret!" Mia cheerfully says. The old lady merely roles her eyes. As Mia walks out she thinks to herself, _"Who put crabapples in her lunch?"_ She pulls the address out of her pocket and takes a look at it. Once she figures out where she is going she heads down the street towards the little shop. She reaches a bridge with a sidewalk on one side and begins to cross. The moment she does, the potent smell of fish reaches her nose. _"This is defiantly a place where Antonio would hand out!"_ she thinks to herself. She keeps walking down the road until she reaches a little shack with a sign outside that says, "Fernando's Fishing Depot." She pushes open the little door and walks in. The first thing she sees is boxes upon boxes of bait. Her stomach churns at the thought of the hundreds of worms that lurk inside. Mia tells herself to keep her composure and walks over to the counter, past the fishing poles and the reels.

The man at the counter looks up and nonchalantly asks, "Can I help you, little lady?" She is a short, tan man in his forties with a plaid shirt and cargo pants on. His sleeves are rolled up and the top button is undone. He also is wearing a baseball cap on backwards. He has a black goatee and curly hair of the same color.

"Yeah, my friend, Jayden, called in a while ago. He sent me here to pick up a golden lure for our friend's birthday," she answers.

"Ah, yes. I know what you are talking about," he says as he picks up a small box and reveals a golden, squid lure with two hooks on the bottom hidden in the tentacles. Mia smiles and gives him the money thanking him. "Sweetie, what happened to your back? Your friend told me that a girl would come in wearing a back brace ands would pick up the lure, but he never said how you ended up in the brace."

Mia chuckles to herself and repeats the story she has told everyone who asked, "I blew myself up." The look of shock on the guy's face was priceless. Mia started to laugh even harder.

"How on earth did you do that, little lady?" he exclaims.

"Cooking," she replies, "and my name is Mia." She holds her hand out to shake his. He clasps hers with his strong, callused mitts and smiles.

"Fernando. I know your friend, Antonio, which is why I reserved the lure for your friend. Normally I don't do that," he says, "You, little lady…I mean Mia, need to keep out of trouble. No more explosions, ok?"

"In my line of work, that's kind of hard to do!" she exclaims without realizing it.

Immediately interested, Fernando asks, "What is your line of work?"

Mia stammers, "Uh…well…actually I'm a chemistry major at Panorama Tech." Mia fiddles with her bracelet. _"Not a lie, I'm just taking the online courses for the time being,"_ she thinks to herself.

"So, let me get this straight. You go to class and are around dangerous chemicals all day and the place where you blow yourself up is at home cooking?" he says in disbelief. Mia smirks and shrugs. Fernando begins to belly laugh. "I like you kid. If you are ever with Antonio, feel free to stop by!" Mia nods and walks out of the shop.

She begins to walk towards the bridge when she sees a dark figure approaching a little boy and his mom. Before anyone knows what is going on, the figure grabs the child and pushes the mother to the ground. Mia's walk turns into a run and without thinking she takes her book and slams it down on the assailant's head. His grip loosens and the boy runs away towards his mother. The figure turns to face Mia. He has a handle bar mustache and a thick scar running the side of his face. Mia tries to fight him off but the brace stops her from doing anything very affective. He rips the book out of Mia's hand and tosses it aside. She then takes a right hook to the eye and is nocked off the bridge. The moment she hits the water, something is different, but before she can pinpoint it, everything goes black.

**A/N: Hey, guess what is directly under my author's note, is big, and has plenty of space for your ideas, comments, ect.? My good friend Mr. Review Box! He is getting lonely, so could you please put your ideas there so he won't feel neglected? THANK YOU!**


	4. Works

Mia's eyes snap open as she coughs up murky water. It pours all over her shirt, but she doesn't realize it. She feels someone rubbing her back and trying to tell her something, but she can not understand what he is saying. She leans against the stranger and can not seem to focus on anything. Her vision is blurry, her clenched right fist is searing in pain, and her head is pounding. Suddenly, men in dark uniforms appear lift her up and put her down on a white board. They start to strap her down, but she doesn't want to be, so she tries to fight them. They pin her down and strap her to the board and then lift it up and put her into the back of a truck. The men in the uniforms are bustling around the back giving orders and checking equipment. They try to open her clutched fist, but she won't let them. Mia still struggles as they put a mask over her face. A hand grips hers as she feels a prick on wrist and slowly fades into sleep.

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><p>Mia wakes to a constant beeping sound. As she struggles to get her eyes open, she hears several people in hushed voices discussing something. Once she is able to just barely lift her eyelids, she sees several foggy figures moving about. Even with her eyes open, she can barely see anything. Mia feels something placed around her ears and one the bridge of her nose and everything suddenly comes into focus, though the fog in her head remains. She can see her friends, her brother, and the fish shop owner, if only she could remember their names. Her brother is the closest to her. He smiles and utters some words, but Mia does not catch most of what he is saying.<p>

She just barely hears him say the words, "Hey…doctors…contacts…don't…fine…" She just looks up at him with a blank stare. He holds her hand in his and gives a fake smile. As Mia slips in and out of consciousness, he is the only one that remains. Sometimes some of her friends show up, sometimes it is the fisherman, but her brother is always there holding her hand.

Slowly the drugged haze leaves her and she gradually becomes more aware of her surroundings. On the third day, she finds herself able to speak in short phrases.

Mia looks up at her brother, Terry, she now remembers, and asks, "Where am I?"

He smiles and replies, "You're in the hospital."

She thinks for a little more and asks, "Why?"

"You saved a kid's life. A man tried to take him away from his mother, but you stopped that from happening. You fought the guy off, but he pushed you off a bridge," Terry responds.

She raises her hand to the bridge of her nose. "Glasses?"

He smiles and chuckles, "Yeah, the doctors took out your contacts while you were unconscious. They didn't know how long you'd be out, so they didn't want them doing any more damage to your awful eyesight."

She rolls her eyes and stammers, "Hate these. They like Urkel." His chuckle turns into a full blown laugh when she says this. Mia looks down at the hand that was just at her nose and realizes it is bandaged. "Hand?"

"You had gone to pick up Jayden's present for Antonio. It was a golden lure. You refused to let go of it, even when you were barely conscious. The EMT's had to sedate you to open up your hand. The hooks lodged themselves into your palm." He then shifts around uncomfortably in his seat and stares down at his shoes. Mia notices this and cocks her head to the side. She looks down at his legs and then realization strikes.

She shifts in the bed a little bit and then stutters, "Legs…Terry. Can't feel them." He looks back up at her, and she sees tears running down his checks.

He shakes his head. "Mia, when you fought off that guy you were wearing a back brace. When you fell…well…it snapped and severed your spinal chord. You are paralyzed from the waist down," he says, voice quavering. The moment he says this, memories flood her brain like a tsunami. She sees the man in the hooded jacket. She sees his scarred face just as he is about to give the final blow. She remembers trying to fight, not being able to move, but still trying. She remembers the feeling of the water as her back slams into it, and she remembers the weightless feeling of the air as she falls. Her breathing becomes staccato and tears start to roll down her eyes.

Terry stands up out of his chair and gives her a hug. He rests his chin on her head and she leans into his chest. As she dampens Terry's shirt, through her tear streaked glasses she sees a folded up wheelchair resting on the wall across the room. That is how they stay until the nurse walks in. She checks Mia's vitals and does everything her job dictates, but then she does something slightly unexpected. She walks out the door and comes back in with a familiar box. She puts it down on the chair next to Terry and smiles. The two siblings share a sad smile. Terry picks up the box and places it on Mia's lap. Then he moves her over to the side of the bed and hops in next to her. He pops open the box and pulls out a chocolate on chocolate doughnut. He smiles and hands it to his sister.

He turns to Mia and through a glazed doughnut, he mumbles, "Works every time."

She rolls her eyes and replies, "Close mouth, chewing."

"I'll not talk with my mouth full, when you don't. Yeah, that's right! I see the chocolate in your mouth. Ever heard of practice what you preach?" Terry teases. Mia just swallows and smiles. "Even when you are forced to speak like a caveman, you still me around!" They both laugh at this.

"You're right," Mia stutters and points down at the box in her lap, "Works." Terry pulls his sister close as they both look at the wheelchair, wondering what will happen next.

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I mentioned a specific brace that I modeled the brace Mia was wearing off of. Breaking and severing the patient's spinal chord is not a known defect whatsoever, but I assume that anything would break at such a hight.<strong>

**A/N: What did you think? Do you think Mia will be able to continue on as the pink ranger? All questions that could be answered by you in a certain comments box…**


	5. Mrs MacIntire

**Disclaimer: I do not own the songs Mexico (Mrs. MacIntire) or King of Oblivion. That would be Seven Nations.**

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><p>Despite being underwater for such a long time, it turns out Mia has little to no lasting mental damage, but the physical damage is irreversible. Slowly, her speech returns to her, and she no longer is stuck using "cave man style," as Terry liked to call it, to talk. About one week after the accident, Mia and Terry sit in the hospital room chatting over lunch. The other rangers were busy training, so it was just them for the time being.<p>

"…and Dan's stick flies out of his hand and hits me on the head! It was the worst concert we have ever played! The worst of part is that our new bassist, Patrick, just can not play. He is so nice, and he tries, but he can not play. We really need our old bassist back." Terry rants as he reminisces about a botched concert he and his band played the night before.

"We both know that is never going to happen!" Mia comments.

Terry continues, "I know, I am actually glad you had to miss it."

"I still wish I could have gone!" Mia pouts.

"No, Mia, you do not. It would have been a complete waste of your time. It was awful!" he laughs.

"Still!" she retorts, "It would have been your awful concert, and that would have made it worth the time, and the laugh."

"Thanks, sis!" Terry rolls his eyes. A soft knock on the door draws them away from their conversation. They turn to see a petite blond woman standing at the door with a little freckled boy, no older than six, who clutches a pink teddybear. His shaggy sand colored hair brushes the top of his crystal eyes. The woman nudges the shy boy into the room.

"Um, excuse me?" the woman meekly asks, "Are you Melina Watanabe?" Mia gives her a smile and nods. The woman continues, "I am Jocelyn MacIntire and this is Sammy. You saved him at the bridge. We wanted to thank you and see how you are doing."

Mia blushes and shrugs, "I'm fine and it was nothing, really."

"You saved his life! Who knows where he would be if that man had gotten to him. Your a hero!" Mrs. MacIntire exclaims.

"I wouldn't go that far," Mia giggles embarrassedly. Sammy slips away from his mother and walks up to the hospital bed.

He holds the teddy bear out and mumbles, "I got this for you."

Mia smiles and accepts the bear and says, "Thank you!" The bear has is pink, fluffy, and has white angel wings. She snuggles it and pats the bed next to her. Terry picks him up and places him right next to her. He gives her a big hug, and despite it hurting a little, she smiles and returns the gesture.

With his head still resting on her shoulder, Sammy whispers, "Thank you Ms. Wasanawpey."

"It was worth it," Mia chuckles, "and you can call me Mia."

"M'kay," he mumbles, "and the bear's name is Pinkey. He can fly, so if you get stuck, he'll help you out of it. He's also pink, 'cause girls like pink, and you're a girl, so you gotta like him." Mia laughs and shakes her head. As she looks down at the small figure wrapped in her arms, Mia can not help but think of what might have happened to the little boy if she hadn't been there. Would he be hurt? Would he be scared and trapped? Would he even be alive? As she realizes that she can not answer any of these questions, she pulls him close.

"I really like him," she says, "but are you sure that all girls like pink?"

He nods, "Yeah, that's what my bwuder Zach says, and he's got lots of girlfwends."

Intrigued, Mia asks, "Really? How many?"

"Like, more than ten. Lots more than ten. I can't even count on my fingers and toes that's how many girlfwends he's got," Sammy explains. Smiling, Mia rolls her eyes as she hears this. Terry talks to Mrs. MacIntire while Mia goofs around with Sammy.

"So she is going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life?" Mrs. MacIntire asks.

Terry nods, "Yeah, but I don't think she feels bad about it. She never thinks about what she wants. Honestly, she rarely thinks about what she needs."

Mrs. MacIntire is astonished, "Really?"

"Yeah, there is a reason I am going to be a doctor. I figured out a long time ago that there is no way that she would ever afford her medical bills without a family discount!"

"I bet. She really is amazing," Mrs. MacIntire marvels.

"I know," Terry agrees, "I just wish that she wouldn't ignore it." They both look up and find two sleeping forms in the bed. Terry smiles and takes of his sister's glasses. He places them on the bedside table. "I have to go back to work. I'm an intern here. Could you keep an eye on her for a little while? I don't like leaving her alone."

"Of course," she replies smiling. As Terry walks out he looks back at his sleeping sister and smiles, knowing that no matter what happens, she will always have someone there to help.

By the end of the second week, Mia is cleared to go home. After a nurse helps her get dressed, Terry wheels her down to the parking lot. Then he lifts his sister up into the passenger's seat and loads up her clunky chair into the trunk. She gazes quietly out the window at the people passing by. As they drive to the Shiba house, Terry puts on some acoustics and holds her hand. Mia can't help but smile. Her little brother is the best and she knows it. Suddenly, a realization hits her.

"Terry, how am I going to get around the Shiba house? They have stairs everywhere!" she exclaims.

"Mia, it's a one floor building," he nonchalantly replies.

"Yeah, but they have two steps separating this room from that! To get to the dojo from the living room, you go down two steps. To get to the living room from the training yard, you go up two steps. It basically compensates for the lack of doors!" she explains.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," he says. She knows in her heart that he is right, but can't help feeling a teensy bit nervous. She fiddles with the new gloves that are supposed to help grip the wheels on her chair. They are black and go three quarters of the way down all of her fingers. At the bottom they velcro. They feel bulky and weird on her hands and are a constant reminder of the overall awkward and clumsiness of her situation. As they drive along, Terry starts singing along an upbeat tune playing on radio. "_Where are you going Mrs. MacIntire? Where are you going on this fine day? Where are you going Mrs. MacIntire, and are you coming back again this way?_"

Mia laughs, "Hey, isn't that Sammy's mom's name?"

"Yup!" he chirps, "_It__'__s a long, long road to the banks of la la la, and somthin__' __somthin__' __he needs to annunciate!_" She rolls her eyes at her brother's joke. He sees this and asks, "What? You should hear their other song, "King of Oblivion"! I think I can make out two words the entire song! The rest of it sounds like, _I hermaritztichiler, I herm atories to the pie!__"_

"Prove it!" Mia jokes. With that Terry pulls out a CD and plays it. Once it starts Mia's eyes get wide at a familiar sound. "Wait," she exclaims, "Is that bagpipes?" When her brother nods yes she mumbles, "You are so weird!" They spend the rest of the car ride mimicking what they think that the lead singer is saying. All of Mia's fears seem to creep away as they goof around, only to return when they roll into the driveway. Out the window she sees several of the rangers training. Her stomach turns and she looks over at her little brother. She pleads, "I don't think I can…"

"Don't even try, Mia," Terry interrupts. With that he puts the car in park and hops out. He unloads the chair, and helps his sister down into it. She sits there for a moment, hands hovering over the wheels, trying to decide what to do. Terry sees this and reaches into the back seat of the car and pulls out Mia's bear and places it on her lap. "There, Pinkey will help you through this," he smiles. She looks up at him and places her hands down onto the wheels and pushes. She wheels herself around the car, but before she can get much farther two arms wrap themselves around her, clamping her to the chair. She looks up to find a certain blonde girl grinning down at her.

"Hi, Em!" Mia says. Emily walks around to the front of the chair and kneels down.

"I'm so glad you're home!" she exclaims, holding Mia's hands in hers.

Mia agrees, "Me too!" By now all of the other rangers noticed the arrival and rush over to greet her. Despite their attempts to bend down or kneel, Mia can't help but feel small. She doesn't show it as she smiles and chats with her friends.

"Hey, Mia," Jayden says, "we have a little surprise for you." They lead her to the house, where Mia sees a small ramp wide enough for her chair on the steps. Seeing her smile, and sigh of relief, he continues, "We figured it would be best to make this place a little more accessible."

"Thank you," she says.

Mike chimes in, "Yeah, and after all of that work, I'm starved! So, Antonio, what's for dinner?"

"Amigo, we finished this yesterday, and we just had lunch!" Antonio laughs.

Ji walks out of the house and says, "Let's give Mia a little time to relax, then I figured we could go out for pizza. If I were stuck in the hospital for two weeks, I wouldn't want to stay inside for very long." He looks over at the blue ranger, who cringed at the very mention of pizza, and adds, "Kevin, we will walk there. Don't worry about your diet."

"Uh, Ji?" Mike asks, "How are you planning to have Mia walk there?"

Ji sighs, "You know what I mean!" They all laugh and head inside.

Terry walks up behind Mia and whispers into her ear, "I told you you'd be fine." She rolls her eyes and with Pinkey in tow, confidently follows her friends into the house.

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you liked it! As I said before, the songs are called Mexico and King of Oblivion. They are sung by my favorite band, Seven Nations. Yes, I like bagpipes. I actually know the lead singer, Kirk. I'll see you next time! Please review!**


	6. The Melody in Her Head

**A/N: Ok, so new chapter! Yay! First, I'm going to thank GoseiShinkenPink for reviewing all of my chapters. It really makes my day when you do. I'm also going to thank lolajohnson94 and JonMacIntosh (my baby bro) for favoriting and favoriting my story. Finally, I'm going to thank Mistycharming for following my story. You guys are the only reason I keep writing. If you have anything to say, please review. It means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

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><p>"So, how long exactly are you staying?" Mia asks.<p>

"Just until you get back on your feet," Terry answers. She raises an eyebrow and he continues, "metaphorically speaking, of course." Mia rolls her eyes. Her little brother had surprised his sister after pizza by announcing that he would be staying with her and the others at the Shiba house. At first she was excited about having him around, but after a few days it is getting old. "Why do you ask?" he adds.

"Some people don't like being baby sat," she curtly answers, "especially by their little brother!" He smiles, ruffles her hair, and walks out. Mia purses her lips and pouts for a moment reminiscing about the days when she could just knock that pesky smirk off of his face with one swift kick. She wheels into the hallway when she hears in the dojo all of the other rangers, Terry, and Ji talking in hushed voices. The sliding door is shut, which is odd, because they never do that. Ji doesn't allow it. She peeks through a crack in the door and listens to what they are saying.

Jayden in his authoritative voice says, "Terry, I feel like you have put this off for far too long. We all know that she can not continue her duties as a ranger, so Med school will have to wait. You need to begin training with us. The nighlock will only grow stronger and we can not afford to be down a ranger."

"I can't be a ranger," Terry mumbles.

"What did you day?" Jayden asks.

Terry sighs and runs his hands through his hair. Then he looks and meets Jayden's steady gaze. Frustrated he yells, "I can't be a ranger, okay? I stopped training when she left a year and a half ago. I didn't do it intentionally, but school and my music kept on getting in the way. I can't be a ranger, because I can't morph. For Pete's sake, I don't have enough symbol power to make a gust of wind that could move a hair on your head!"

"Well, it looks like you have a lot of work to do," Jayden calmly replies. Then he turns to the others and says, "Now, the real challenge. Who is going to break the news to Mia?"

"Amigo," Antonio interrupts, "are you sure there is no way I could build some sort of a special chair or something? I mean seriously! Terry can't fight, but with her experience, I think Mia could figure it out."

"Ji and I already discussed that," Jayden replies, shaking his head, "There is no possible way for her to go into battle and come out alive. She can't push her chair while holding a sword, the recoil of any spin attack would send her flying backwards, and what if she falls out? She'd be a sitting duck! I haven't even mentioned the fact that she is eye level with the average mooger's sword. She would get decapitated! Mia is one of the bravest people I know, and one of the most stubborn, but I am also her friend. I refuse to send her out on a suicide mission!" Antonio shakes his head in agreement. Jayden rubs his eyes and says, "Listen, I know this is going to be hard on all of us, but we all know that she won't tell us if she thinks she can't do it. She would go right out there and get herself killed! I swear if you have any question about that just look at the past month as an example. She does everything for us, now we need to protect her."

"Maybe we should wait a bit until Terry is ready to tell her," Emily suggests.

"And keep her living in a fool's paradise? She will figure it out eventually. She is one of the smartest people here," Kevin interjects, "The blow will be softer if it comes now."

"About as soft as an anvil being dropped on her foot," Mike mumbles.

"She can't feel her feet, Mike. That is part of the problem here!" Kevin sneers.

Mike snaps, "You know what I mean!"

"Rangers, while I agree with Kevin, we should all wait a week for everything to settle," Ji instructs, "She just got back. Let's give her some time to get used to her new predicament, then we tell her. Until we do, Terry, I want you to practice basic symbols on your own. Try not to let her see you." Upon hearing this, Mia storms away. As her eyes well up with tears, she rolls through the door of her room. She lifts herself up onto her bed, and for the first time since the hospital, she cries. The only difference is that Terry is not there to hug her or to tell her everything will be okay. The only ones there are Pinkey and her turtle zord, and within a week, that will not even be true. She rips off her glasses and throws them across the room. As the world blurs, she quietly weeps, and everything fades away.

A soft touch reaches Mia's back and brings her back to the world. She just barely opens her eyes as it rubs up and down disappearing and reappearing right over the line of her wound. Behind her there are several footsteps rummaging about. Ji's voice reaches her ears as he says, "Emily, I will show you the symbol to fix these. Luckily the glass didn't shatter, so it should be relatively easy."

Mike's voice is the next voice to be heard as he jokes, "I'd put all of my money on the fact that she heard us." No one responds. They shuffle out and Mia sits up. Blindly she feels around her bed trying to find Pinkey, but instead a familiar object is placed in her hand. The smooth, thin wood feels cool against her hand. She smiles to herself as she runs her fingers along it. She gently places it on the bed. Then Mia gently lets herself down on the ground and feels around for her chair. She climbs into it and picks up the thin piece of wood off of her bed. She places it on her lap and quietly rolls out of the room.

While navigating the halls without sight, a slow melody guides her. With each beat she pushes the wheels. With the tune she weaves and turns. With each crescendo she gives a mighty push and glides, and when the music softens with a decrescendo, she slows to a stop. Without being seen, she exits the house and rolls up to a shed in the back. By touch she fumbles with the lock, and eventually opens the door. She pulls herself up and over the solo step and rolls inside, while the door closes behind her. Mia continues to drift into the center of the room until her wheels hit a large, black box. She leans over and opens the case. Her fingers run across the sleek wood of thee object inside. Mia sits back up and picks up each of her legs and places them on the ground. Then she bends back over and lifts the item up towards her chest. Her fingers reach the strings by her head and her other hand picks up the piece of wood in her lap, her bow. She places it gently on the strings in preparation. After she waits a moment, she begins to play along to the melody in her head. She feels as her whole working body sways with the music. She feels the song deep within the core of her heart. For a moment, all of her worry escapes her. For a moment it is not what she can not do, but what she can. For a moment, she feels at home.

The door opens behind her, but she does not notice. Her visitor slinks in and settles in the corner of the room. Once he settles, he does not move and he does not make a sound. The two people moved by the sound of one melody.


	7. A Way

Mia watches as her brother spars with Jayden, who is instructing him on proper sword technique, in the yard. It is pitiful to watch. Terry is smart, kind, funny, and a great musician, but he is an awful swordsman. He is disarmed every five seconds, mainly because he drops it on accident before Jayden has any time to strike. If she were not in this position, she would be laughing very hard.

She turns around and wheels into her room where her duffel bag lays open on her bed. Ji had given her the option to stay and help out around the house, or to go home and figure things out from there. She can not figure out what to do. She does not see any benefit of her staying. She can not cook, because she can not reach the stove. She can not clean, because of her clunky chair getting in the way. There are really no other chores to do aside from that and the ones that are left are still just out of the realm of possibility. The only thing keeping her from packing that bag is the feeling in her gut that she would be quitting, and Mia never quits.

Mia looks down at her bed and sees a folded sheet of paper lying on it. She opens it up and sees a URL printed on it in black ink. Curiosity gets the best of her, so she pulls out her laptop and types it in. When she presses enter, she is shocked at what she sees. The link lead her to a video of a teenage boy at a skatepark, doing tricks and flips in a wheelchair. She looks over at her bag and knocks it off the bed. She made her decision. He races into the hallway with her laptop resting on her legs and stops just as she reaches the entrance to the living room.

"Hey, Mike, can you come here for a second?" she innocently asks, trying not to show her excitement. The green ranger looks up from his hand held video game which he was playing and walks over to her. She opens up her laptop and shows him the video. Once it finishes, she looks over to him with a childish grin and he shakes his head.

"Tell me you are not about to ask me what I think you are about to ask me," he begs.

"This could be my way back into the game! If I can handle different obstacles, like maybe stairs, then I could adapt my fighting style and be the pink ranger again!" she exclaims, "We both know that Jayden is getting no where with him and you guys can't be down a ranger in a time like this, so if you teach me…" She gestures with her hands for him to fill in the rest.

"No, Mia that would get you killed!" he admonishes. She shrugs and he sarcastically says to himself, "You don't care. Of course not. I can't teach you this stuff, Mia. If you get hurt again, Jayden will ring my neck!"

She sighs, "I get it. I'll just go down to the skate park and figure it out on my own." With that she turns and begins to wheel outside, but he grabs the back of her chair and spins her around.

"The only reason I am saying this is because I know that you aren't bluffing," he tells her, "Fine. If we are going to do this, then we are going to do this right. Look at his chair. It has a lower back and a seat belt. It obviously is designed for this. Yours is the clunky kind the hospital gives you! Before we do anything, if we do anything, we are getting Antonio to help us build you a better suited chair."

"So you'll do it?" she asks.

"Do I have a choice?" he counters. She hugs him really tight and then races outside. "Where are you going?" he yells.

"To the docks!" she exclaims and points towards the gate. With that she wheels out onto path that leads to town.

"What is my sister doing?" Terry asks.

"Well," he begins. He looks over at Jayden, and deciding that it would be best to not tell anyone, he says, "Since everyone else is training, she begged me, the slacker, to take her to the docks. She wanted to see the place where it happened, and she really wants to see Fernando. He was that fisherman dude who pulled her out of the water."

"Ok," he says, "make sure she doesn't do anything stupid?"

"Since when am I the responsible one?" Mike asks and then without waiting for an answer, turns and runs after Mia. Once he catches up with her he tells her of his alibi and they head towards the bus stop. Once it arrives, Mike goes to pick up Mia, but the bus driver, and old portly woman with a bad attitude stops him.

"You can't bring that wheely thing on my bus! It won't fit and that girl would need a seat to sit in, 'cause we both know that she would be standin' if she could. There 'ain't no seats left, honey."

Mike goes to retort, but Mia stops him and says, "Come on, there are never any seats left." She turns and wheels away. Mike glares at the lady who just sneers back. "Come on, Mike!" she yells. He marches off after her grumbling about the lady and using some heavy language. Mia sighs, "Mike, just knock it off. I'm used to it. This sort of thing happens to me all the time. People don't tell you this, but it comes with the chair and a boatload of other problems." Mike looks down at his friend and realizes that he can not just try to help her get back into the game, but he has to. He has to help her get something to take her mind off of this.

The walk to the docs is a lot longer without being able to take the bus. Mike begins to wonder if Antonio will even still be there, but Mia confidently pushes ahead. By the time they finally make it to their friend, he is beginning to pack up for the day.

"Antonio!" Mia yells. He turns and smiles when he sees his friends approaching. He puts down his things and walks over to them.

"Hola amigos? What's up?" he asks.

Mia excitedly looks at Mike and then back at Antonio and says, "We need your help with a project."

"Sure. What do you need amiga?" Antonio asks.

"We need you to help us build a chair that might withstand battle," she says. Antonio's face gets serious and worried, but Mia pretends not to notice. She continues, "I think we found something that might make it possible."

"Chicita, that is insane! You'll get killed," he yells.

"That's what I told her, but now that I'm thinking about it this could be pretty interesting," Mike explains, "We will only send her out into battle with Jayden's approval, but first we need a chair that would work. We found something that could be a base model, but I figured with your tech skills we could make it battle ready." Still unsure Antonio shakes his head. Mike sees this and says, "Hey! You said it yourself that with her experience she can do it. We never said that it would be easy, but its better than starting from scratch with a new person! We believed in you when you first came here, so now you've gotta believe in us."

Antonio looks down at the ground and sighs, "Well, then I guess we better get to the drawing boards. Speaking of which, where are the drawing boards going to be. I'm going to assume that you're not telling the others for now, right?"

"You'll do it?" Mia asks with glee.

"Yeah, I'll do it," he chuckles. She embraces her two friends in a giant group hug. The two guys share a knowing look and laugh. Mia tells them that she has the perfect place for the project and that she'll show them when they get home. As they make their way they stop at Fernando's shop. He greets the trio with a smile.

"Hey, little one! How are you holding up?" he asks Mia while crouching down to bee at eye level with her.

"I'm doing fine, and for the record I was taller than you when I was on my feet, little one!" she jokes.

He puts a hand on her shoulder and laughs, "You're the craziest kid I've ever met!" They talk for a little while longer, but eventually a customer pulls him away. As they leave they hear him reciting the tale of that fateful day, with a couple of embellishments.

"I knew about the back brace, but I didn't realize I fought of seven guys wielding guns and knives while saving ten children," she sarcastically quips.

"Oh, by the time Fernando is done with it, you would have single handedly taken down a full army of mutant soldiers and you fell off a bridge into a pit of shark infested molten lava!" Antonio laughs. They all joke about it the whole way home. By the time they get there they came up with a story so elaborate that it barely even resembles the original.

Ji walks up to them and asks them what took them so long, and after explaining the issue with the bus driver, he sadly looks down at Mia and tells her not to take it personally. After telling him that she is used to it. She wheels inside to get something to eat.

"The way that lady looked down on her really rubbed me the wrong way," Mike grumbles, "She acted like Mia was some rodent or parasite."

"Yeah, and after she defeated those flaming, ninja, monkey, undead warriors saving the hundreds of defenseless, starving, orphan children you'd think she'd get a little bit of respect!" Antonio jokes.

"What?" Mentor asks. The guys shake their heads and laugh.

In unison they say, "It's a long story!"

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><p><strong>AN: Hey! I hope you had a Happy Holidays and enjoy the New Year! I hope you liked this chapter, and if you do please tell me what you liked, if you didn't tell me what I need to change.**

** The guy I mentioned in my story's name is Aaron Fotheringham. He is a total boss. This is also a disclaimer for future references. I do not own him. I found him while doing research.**


	8. Broken

**A/N: Hey! Sorry for the wait. I've been busy lately with the March For Life and other events that came up in the past month. I sure hope you enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!**

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><p>One month passed as the trio continue their project. They go over possible scenarios that might come up and test their creation. Some nights they would sneak out and bring their prototype into the woods to test how well it would work on rough terrain. Sometimes they would go all the way to the park to practice around obstacles. Other nights they would work until dawn in the shed tweaking and editing their design. The more they work, the better it gets, and the greater of a chance that Mia will take back her role as the pink ranger full time. Despite their success, Jayden can not say the same about his pink ranger project. During this month, Terry has finally been able to morph up and aid in small mooger attacks, yet each time proves that he seemingly becomes a worse samurai with each battle. The trio hopes that this will help prove their case when the time comes to reveal their work to their peers.<p>

In the meantime, Mia has become more of a nurse to the samurai. During each battle she prepares ice packs and frozen peas, a pot of tea (with some assistance from Ji), bandages and gauze, and Emily's favorite stuffed monkey, Joe, for when the rangers return home. If he does not fight, she also assists Terry in bandaging and mending the wounds. If he does, it seems that while Ji takes care of the others, she has her work cut out for her. She also has created instructions for several basic appliances, like the washing machine and the dryer, which have spared some of the red ranger's white clothing.

Mia anxiously sits on one of those times, waiting for the rangers plus her brother to return. It appeared to be just a clan of moogers, but what should have taken no longer than an hour, has lasted three. She constantly rearranges the different medical supplies and prepares more as time grows. Wheeling in and out of every room, OCD on fire, she makes minor critiques to every object she sees, in an attempt to make it perfect and to distract herself. Ji stands guard at the table, watching the battle go down on the reflection. His lips are pursed as he stares down with such focus that it seems as if he were trying to put a hole in the table with laser vision. When Mia wheels through one more time he grabs the handle on the back of her chair, stopping her in her tracks.

"Will you stop pacing back and forth?" he pleads.

"Ji, I can't move my legs, therefore I can't pace!" she jokes in an attempt to lighten the mood.

He rolls his eyes, just as a cry from the front yard sounds, "Ji! Come here!" Mia and Ji share a terrified look and take off towards the owner of the voice. When they come around, they see something very unsettling. Terry's limp body is being held in the arms of Jayden. All are de-morphed with the exception of the surrogate pink ranger, whose uniform is torn and dirtied and his helmet is cracked.

Jayden explains, "They noticed that Mia's gone. The moogers were targeting him. No matter what we did, they kept coming and attacking him. We couldn't stop them."

All movable muscles in Mia's body visibly tense as she stares dumbfounded at the sight in front of her. Slowly, she wheels towards the red ranger, who places his broken body onto her lap. She does not know who, but someone begins to push her towards the house. Her whole body feels numb and all she can do is stare down at her sleeping baby brother. She feels his week breaths on her chest as he fights for each one. She clasps his hand in hers and closes her eyes to keep her tears at bay.

Ji lifts Terry off of her and places him on a bed in the infirmary. He draws a symbol on her brother's chest, forcing him to de-morph. Underneath his armor, his skin is spotted with various shades of black, blue, purple, and red. A gash on his right collarbone seeps a deep red. Small slashes and nicks cover his flesh and his eyes are swollen shut. Mia's stomach churns at the sight and her hands begin to shake. She nervously grabs the bandages and the disinfectant, but Ji takes them out of her hands.

Before she can protest, Ji kneels down and calmly whispers, "Go, sit by his side and hold his hand. Try to comfort him if need be, but whatever you do don't let go." She shakes her head and glides over to the side of the bed. Mia interlocks her fingers with her little brother's and quietly waits for a response. Ji works around her while applying the bandages, medical glue for the large gash, and just doing an overall check up. Mia watches as he works, but does not speak. When he quietly ambles out of the room, she does not take notice. She just silently stares down at her baby brother while tiny droplets of water streak her tired face. The eldest pink remains this way for the remainder of the night, not sleeping and not moving, just waiting patiently by his side.

At dawn, Terry begins to stir. Slowly and painfully, he barely opens his eyes. He glances over to his sister who just barely is able to mumble his name. She shakes her head as more tears flow down her cheeks. Mia stutters out, "I..I...I...I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. This is all my fault. Y...y...you...you shouldn't have to do this. You c...can't do this!" She reaches over and gives him a one-armed hug. She continues, "T...T...Terry, I p...promise you that I will fix this. You won't ever have to g...g...go out there again. I swear!"

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><p><strong>AN: Terry's hurt! Oh no! What will they do? How will they go on without a pink ranger? The experiment is still being tested! Tell me your thoughts down in Mr. Review Box!**


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